Oh No, It's THE MARY SUE FROM HELL!
by Jynxfreak
Summary: What? thinks the reader... it's name is capitalised, for heavens' sakes! it can't be taking itself SERIOUSLY, can it? nya, you'll just have to find out! --oh yes, and it's complete, dears.
1. Chapter 1

The readers had started something, by clicking that link to the story "MARY-SUE FROM HELL", in the vague interest that it required. The author owned nothing in the story, save whatever sick and twisted characters she chose to insert, and surely there would be one after a title like that. The readers fully expected to become bored and leave within four lines of beginning, good and ready to click the 'back button'. A gap between the first paragraph and the second marked the beginning of the actual fan fiction. They began to read. 

On a well-known beach that formed part of a well-known island, a well-known event was taking place. In any case, well known to us.

"So I said to him, you ca-"

"You said what?" Riku and Sora were taking an early-morning stroll along the beach, and Sora was giving Riku an account of what had happened between him and Tidus the other day. Riku was only half-listening, staring up at the pink-tinged sky. He took notice when Sora stopped talking. The reason soon became apparent.

"What do you think it is, Riku?" The pristine line of the sand was broken by a dark shape, obviously left there when the tide went out. Riku and Sora approached it cautiously. It was at that moment that countless fanfiction trawlers groaned in recognition, and Sora realised that it was a person, washed up on the beach and unconscious.

"Gee, I dunno, Sora," Riku replied sarcastically, crouching beside the young woman. Another collective cry went up from the readers as the girl's features came into view. Her hair was blonde; a startling white-blonde shock of hair that attractively tumbled down to her lower back, held off her face by a scarlet band around her forehead. Her attire was rather odd, but as the readers knew, entirely appropriate for the situation. 

She was wearing a strange, tattered coat-like… thing, quite like the one worn by Vincent from Final Fantasy, exactly the same colour, just way more worn and torn. She wore nothing underneath except a black miniskirt, however, so a wide, black leather belt at her waist held the coat taut enough to keep it- and her breasts- in one place. Her navel was clearly visible above the belt.

Her black leather knee-boots were both protected by a moulded silver shin guard, and a similar guard adorned her right arm. There was a string of five blood-red gems around her neck.

"Whoa." Was Sora's first reaction. Riku's was a little more articulate.

"Interesting. I wonder why she's unconscious though? Do you think she's hurt?" Sora shrugged.

"Maybe. In any case, we can't leave her here- let's find her a bed somewhere." Riku nodded and- with little difficulty- managed to hoist the girl into his arms. Something which neither boy had noticed- but now was quite obvious- was that the girl had been lying on a pretty darn huge, and rather nasty-looking sword, with chips and scratches all over it. The handle was moulded for a perfect grip with two hands.

"Cool!" exclaimed Sora, lifting the sword off the sand. "Reckon it belongs to, uh, her?" Riku shrugged.

"Probably." Sora inspected the sword carefully.

"It's been through a lot—hey, look! There, near the handle… there's something engraved on the blade. It says… 'Meshuga'. Maybe it's her name?" Riku cocked an eyebrow.

"Maybe. It'll do for now," And they left, in search of a bed wherein they could stash their prize.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wh… wha… Where am I?" was Meshuga's predictable mumble. You could almost hear the sound of people- sitting at their monitors- rolling their eyes. Beside her bed, Tidus woke up.

"Hunh? Oh! You're awake!" he ran to the door, shouting for the whole island to hear: "HEY EVERYBODY! MESHUGA IS AWAKE!" Soon the sound of running feet could be heard, and Sora, Riku and Kairi charged into the room.

"…Meshuga?" she repeated, bemused. Her onlookers could now see that her eyes were the standard bright, sparkling blue. The breeze carried a faint sound of pointy sticks being sharpened- but nobody noticed, as it was irrelevant to their situation. Riku shook his head slightly to clear it of the multitude of disjointed thoughts that had just flooded his brain.

"Um, let me explain. We found you on the beach, unconscious. So, we brought you here and waited for you to wake up- that took two days, and by then we had taken to calling you Meshuga, because it's engraved on the sword we found you with. But, now you're awake, you can tell us your real name!"

"My… my real name…" she mumbled, her forehead creased in thought. "I… I don't remember…" Outside the window, a voice was heard to say,

"What is this, storyline department's day off? AMNESIA?!" but when Sora stuck his head out to see, there was no-one in sight. The readers smiled, recognising that one of their brethren had visited.

"Odd," he murmured, completely unaware of what had just happened.

"…So, you don't remember… anything?" Riku was saying, a look of concern about him. Meshuga nodded, rubbing her temples.

"That's right. Oh well- it looks like I'll be keeping 'Meshuga' for a while." She swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up. "So what's this place?"

"This is Destiny Islands! We all hang out here. I'm Riku, that's Sora, Kairi and Tidus. There's a few more around, but doubtless you'll meet them later." Meshuga nodded, and, to everyone's amazement- after all, she had just spent two days in bed- tried to get up. Riku got up with her, which was a good thing because as soon as she was on her feet she wobbled and nearly fell, but Riku's arms closed around her and he held her up.

"You OK there? You probably shouldn't be trying to stand at this point-"

"I can do it, never mind that," Meshuga said in relaxed tones, gently pushing Riku away and running her hands through her hair. Kairi felt the need to add some information.

"Um- the clothes that the boys found you in were really tattered and stuff- we kept them for you anyway- but I gave you some new clothes for now." Meshuga inspected her outfit, and found a pair of long, below-the-knee length creamy coloured cargo shorts and a black Lycra crop top.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. Her mood suddenly lifted to unbearable heights of happiness, and she hugged Riku and Kairi each briefly, then ran outside. "This is gonna be so FUN!" she was heard to exclaim, and the occupants of the room exchanged glances.


	3. Chapter 3

First port of call was showing Meshuga the whole island, which she seemed very interested in.

"…And finally, here's where we found you." Meshuga crouched down, placing a palm against the sand. Her vision blurred, and for a moment the sky seemed to be a roiling red colour, the ground a slick black stone. Lightning arced down to strike the ground to her left. Meshuga gasped and fell back to land on her rump, and the world turned back to what it should be. A voice in the distance shouted,

"ACTION MAN RIP!" but when the group of teenagers turned, there was nobody there. The readers knew who had done it- one of their number- but only a select few understood what it meant- not many had watched the original Action Man cartoon, had they? Everybody went back to the current situation, remembering what had just happened.

"Meshuga, are you alright?" Kairi knelt beside the newcomer, resting a hand on her shoulder. Meshuga stared- Kairi was standing exactly where the lightning had struck in her hallucination. "Meshuga?" She realised she was being addressed.

"Oh- yeah, I'm fine. Dunno what came over me."

"Well, that's the whole place, and let me just say that you're welcome to stay here as long as you like." Sora informed her, giving her a hand to stand up. Meshuga grinned, and, like the happy, childish community they were, they then played Tag.

*          *          *

Everybody basically scrounged their own dinner, and then went their separate ways. Night had long fallen, and the island was bathed in a ghostly blue glow. Meshuga was nowhere to be found. Riku became worried, and searched- he eventually found her, sitting on a large, flat rock and staring out across the ocean. Riku silently came up beside her, sitting down to her right.

"What are you thinking about?" Riku asked suddenly, making Meshuga jump. "Sorry," he added, noticing.

"That's ok," Meshuga amended. "I was just thinking about what's inside my head. I don't remember anything at all. Everything's blank. But I found this," she showed Riku her left hand- dead center in the palm was a tattooed circle with an 'x' inside, its lines stretching right to the edge of their confines within the circle. The tattoo looked old, and it had a long scar through it, which began at the base of her middle finger, went straight through the tattoo and stopped just above her wrist. There were also a couple of horizontal scars that both touched the tattoo.

"It looks like someone tried to get rid of it," Riku observed, staring at Meshuga's find.

"It makes me wonder what kind of past I had. Or have. Or something." Riku nodded.

"But maybe it will come back. Maybe it's a temporary thing."

"Perhaps. But what if I don't want it to come back? It speaks of ominous things," she said, her voice slightly forlorn. Riku, almost unaware of what he was doing, slid an arm around her shoulders.

"Whatever it is, we'll help you. And I'll always stick by you." Meshuga looked at him levelly for a second, then wrapped her arms around him and buried her face against his neck. They sat there for perhaps an hour, and finally Riku realised that Meshuga had fallen asleep. He once again lifted her up and carried her to a bed.

In the background, a bunch of readers made exclamations to the point of, "Gee, we didn't see THAT one coming… NOT!" But none of the actual cast noticed.


	4. Chapter 4

The morning dawned bright and early, and when Riku got to where he had deposited her sleeping form the previous night, Meshuga was nowhere to be found. Riku ran outside.

"Meshuga?" he called, looking to the left and right. "Meshuga!" he raced around the island, trying to find his wayward guest. He combed the entire place, and eventually came full circle to where he started, with no trace of her. "Where are you? Meshuga?!" he called out, his voice cracking. Anything could have happened! Maybe someone from her forgotten past came and took her away- or what if her past was as violent as she had guessed? Riku fell to his knees in the sand, head in his palms as he tried to force his brain into action.

"Riku…" came a faint voice, Meshuga's voice. It sounded distant, as if it had flown out of Riku's subconscious. His hands dropped to his lap. She was lost, possibly forever. "Riku!" it sounded closer, now. Riku's hands clenched. If only he had stayed, watched over her. "Riku?" Now the voice was the closest ever, and it seemed worried. 

Wait.

Riku looked up, and over towards the ocean. There, standing in the shallows, was a very wet, very salty and very confused Meshuga, wearing only the crop top and matching swimsuit bikini bottom. Riku jumped to his feet, throwing himself at the girl. She, somewhat bewildered, caught him, as he held her in a tight embrace. Riku, not finished yet, pulled away for a moment; His hands grasped the sides of her face and he kissed her, full on the mouth. Meshuga, quite astounded, wasn't sure of what to do. Luckily, it was then that Riku released her, leaning back and staring warmly into her eyes.

"What was that all about?" Meshuga asked him a little unsteadily, as he completely pulled back, only keeping hold of her hand as they walked to the flat rock.

"I thought I'd lost you- I had no idea where you were!" Meshuga smiled reassuringly.

"I felt like going for an early-morning swim. Hey, guess what?" Riku smiled and replied,

"What?"

"I found out I'm a really good swimmer! Maybe I was an Olympic swimmer in my past…"

"Heh. Maybe." They lay on the rock until they had dried sufficiently, at which point Meshuga put her borrowed shorts back on over her bikini. Riku had found a stunning variety of fruits for their breakfast, which they ate in the shade of a palm tree. As they ate, a question formed in Riku's mind.

"Hey Meshuga? Do you know if you're any good at fighting? You know, like with a sword." Meshuga considered, her head cocked to one side as she swallowed the strawberry that had been in her mouth.

"Hmm… Well, I don't know, but if it's anything like the swimming, it'll be my body that remembers." Riku nodded.

"Well, how about after breakfast we have a go with the wooden sticks…"

*          *          *

Eventually, after a lazy breakfast, Riku and Meshuga stood facing each other on the beach, a straight wooden pole in each pair of hands.

"I'll go easy on you to begin with," Riku explained, "And we should start slowly. Speed up if you feel you're getting good, but I'll speed up with you." Meshuga nodded, and took a deep breath to steel herself. A moment of silence stretched between them. Then Meshuga charged, aiming her pole for a stab. Riku parried it easily, and hit her ankles to knock her off her feet.

"Ayaah!" was Meshuga's cry as the world spun around her and she got hit in the back by a large body of sand. She opened her eyes, to find Riku smiling down at her. He offered her a hand to get up.

"Try again. I promise I won't knock you down again." Meshuga nodded, and settled into a stable stance. Again, the silence as Meshuga looked for her best plan of attack. She felt something nudging her mind, and it seemed to be coming from her limbs. The pole felt heavy, but comfortable in her hands. She shifted her grip, squeezing the stick experimentally. Her arms tensed and relaxed. And then she attacked.

Riku was surprised initially at her speed, but he easily dodged, blocked or parried all of her early strikes. He frowned slightly; her first strokes were amateur and wild, but as they fought on, he could feel them becoming a little more refined, a little more concentrated. His eyes widened slightly as he realised she was going through exactly what he had to learn sword fighting- at an extremely accelerated rate. By his calculations—his thoughts paused as he rolled to one side to avoid a head shot—by his calculations, in about thirty seconds she'd be matching his own skill. So, she WAS a good fighter, she just had to remember it.

And so she was- All of a sudden the fighting became much more graceful and measured, the skills of both fighters completely matched up. Riku laughed, having the time of his life- Meshuga, however, had a look of concentration on her face.

Slowly but surely, Riku felt the tide of the fight turning. He began having trouble, fighting with all his skills to stay in the fray. Meshuga was bearing down on him, barely noticing that she was surpassing him. Her strokes began to hit home, slamming into Riku's legs and upper body- finally she hit him a beauty across the head, and he fell down, hitting the sand hard. A trickle of blood ran from one corner of his mouth.

Meshuga approached, stick raised, and a trancelike, blank expression on her face. Riku gritted his teeth and kicked upwards, hitting her in the ribs and knocking her onto her back. Her pole flew out of her hand. Riku leapt forwards, crouching over her and holding the stick across her throat to keep her down. The blank expression evaporated.

"H- ah? Riku? What happened? Oh gods, you're bleeding- who did that? It wasn't me, was it?" Riku raised an eyebrow. _She doesn't remember any of it!_ He realised, letting up the pressure and sitting down. Meshuga sat up with him, rubbing the place where he had kicked her. "Ow; How did I get so sore?"

"You don't remember?" He turned and studied her face.

"I remember up to the point where our skills matched, and then everything becomes a blur."

"Aha. You knocked me down, and you were going to hit me again, so I kicked you. I'm sorry." Meshuga's eyes widened.

"I was going to—jeez, Riku, I'm the one who should be sorry! I don't wanna sword-fight again if that's going to happen!" she absently rubbed the tattoo with her thumb, a gesture she had taken to doing when she was thinking. "How scary. And it's part of my past…" Riku's heart clenched when he noticed the distressed look on her face. He pulled her into his lap, wincing slightly at the pain that would certainly become a series of mighty bruises.

"I'll help you. In any way I can." He wrapped his arms tightly around her and sat there, rocking gently back and forth. Several readers slapped themselves on the forehead in exasperation, as a few even left the story with an air of distaste.

"Thankyou," she whispered, her voice showing exactly how shaken she was. They sat like that until lunch time about three hours later.


	5. Chapter 5

Riku, splashing about and acting the fool, caught a sizeable fish- with his bare hands- for Meshuga's entertainment, and both of their lunches. He then grilled it over an open fire like he had done so many times before.

"Mmrh, this is great!" Meshuga complemented as she munched on some of the perfectly-done fish.

"I've had a lot of practise." Riku admitted, flicking up a morsel and catching it in his mouth, making Meshuga giggle.

"You're so crazy."

"Yeah." They ate the rest of the fish in comfortable silence, and finally Meshuga thought of something to do.

"Hey Riku, let's go play in the water." He cocked an eyebrow at her, but gave a small smile nonetheless. Meshuga stripped off her shorts, running to the water's edge. "Come on!" she urged, diving into the ocean. Riku grinned and shrugged his shirt off, leaving only his board shorts. He followed suit, slicing into the waves with practised ease. "Hey, catch me if you can!" Meshuga challenged, striking out through the water, swimming parallel with the shoreline.

"Hah, escape me if you can!" was Riku's reply, as he swam after her. Meshuga squealed with delight and swam faster, curving with the island; soon they were on the opposite side to that which they had started on. All the others were over this side, coincidentally playing in the water as well. Meshuga swam to a shallow point, standing up to her shoulders in the saltwater.

"Hey!" she called out, waving to the others; they waved back, but soon began pointing to something over Meshuga's shoulder.

"BEHIND YOU! LOOK OUT! MESHUGA!" Sora cried, his eyes wide. Meshuga wondered what he was going on about, until quite suddenly cold hands collided with her shoulders at a great speed, and whatever it was tackled her into the water. Meshuga let out a surprised stream of bubbles, scrambling for higher ground. She got to the really shallow parts- halfway up your shins- and the thing threw itself at her again. Meshuga fell on her back this time, to find herself pinned by the shoulders by a panting, and quite wet and bedraggled Riku.

"I caught you." He smirked, rolling off her and standing up. She levered herself to her feet. "So, what were you guys doing?" Riku asked, spotting Selphie on Tidus' shoulders. Wakka and the new girl, Yuna, were in the same position.

"Water wrestling," Sora declared, lifting Kairi onto his own shoulders. Riku glanced at Meshuga, who nodded with a large grin. She sprang onto Riku's shoulders, and he walked over to stand next to Yuna and Wakka, facing the other two pairs. Up on the beach, someone was heard to snigger,

"Heheh, Wakka's brave, that's the methane goddess!" Everybody looked, but again there was nobody there. None of the readers understood the inside joke. Yuna shrugged, and took a deep breath.

"CHAAAAAAARGE!" she bellowed, pointing in the direction Wakka and Riku needed to run. Sora and Tidus dug their heels in. The other two ran. Riku headed straight for Sora the girls on top locking hands in the desperate struggle to throw the other one off. Wakka and Tidus were doing much the same thing, and everyone was laughing.

Meshuga and Kairi were wrestling gleefully, trying to get a good grip on one another. Meshuga grinned and grabbed her opponent's arm, pushing her backwards. Sora compensated hurriedly, but Riku leapt forwards and Meshuga pulled Kairi off to the side. She began falling, Sora unable to stop it- but, with a lucky swing, she caught Meshuga's wrist, pulling all four to the shallows with a mighty splash. They all looked over to the other four, to find Wakka and Yuna in the water, Tidus and Selphie- still mounted- doing a little victory dance.

"Boys versus girls!" Kairi announced, to the approval of the others. Selphie switched mounts to Meshuga, and Yuna supported Sora's previous passenger. Sora and Riku paired up, Riku underneath, and Wakka sat on Tidus' shoulders.

"GO! GO! GO!" Wakka roared, and the fight was on again. Meshuga ran at Tidus, Selphie gleefully locking hands with his rider. While Tidus was concentrating on the action above, Meshuga took the chance to swipe his feet out from under him with a well-placed heel.

"Yeah baby!" Meshuga gloated, pumping a fist in the air as Selphie did much the same. In the background, Sora and Riku had defeated their opponents. The last two pairs squared off, grinning widely at each other.

"Haha, meet your DOOM!" Sora declared, as Riku charged. Sora and Selphie locked hands, growling and shoving in attempts to dislodge the other. Meshuga tried her heel trick again, but Riku dodged- with just enough force to pull Selphe, who had latched onto her opponent, off Meshuga's shoulders. Selphie fell into the water and Sora jumped down from Riku's shoulders, doing a little two-step with glee. "Do we make a team, or what!" he exclaimed, high-fiving Riku.

For the rest of the afternoon, they all played in the water.

*          *          *

"It's so pretty," Commented Meshuga; She and Riku had split off from the other guys near dusk and lay around near the Paopu tree until they were dry, and now they were watching the sun set. Riku turned to study her face in the half-light. She was the classic beauty, and frankly he was hooked. He craved her presence. He could feel his heart fluttering as she turned to look at him. "Riku?" she hazarded, absently leaning closer.

"Mmm?" he replied, doing the same.

"I don't ever want to leave here. I don't care if my memory comes back or not. I want to stay here with you." Riku beamed, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'd love that. And if you left… I don't know what I'd do." He closed the final distance, giving her a gentle kiss. Meshuga reacted accordingly, and the next two were as gentle as the first. Then they changed, becoming more urgent and passionate. The whole world seemed to disappear, leaving them alone, intertwined in the twilight.

The romantic scene was nicely augmented by the sound of someone gagging and retching, but nobody paid the culprit any notice. A few readers echoed their comrade's sentiment.


	6. Chapter 6

It was the day after in which trouble reared its ugly head. The author considered exactly where the fanfiction was going. Meshuga was chatting with Kairi.

"So, did you and Riku have a go with the wooden sticks?" Kairi asked, sprawled on the bamboo banana lounge next to Meshuga's. The white-blonde locks bounced with her nod.

"Yup." Was the simple reply.

"You must be pretty good then, he's got bruises all over him!" Meshuga shrugged, wishing that Kairi would go away. She was quite bored with her twittering, and wished to be left alone. Riku was off somewhere else, where she didn't know. Probably foraging for lunch or something. "Meshuga?" the cheerful voice sliced through her thoughts. In response Meshuga shrugged. Kairi, undeterred, continued.

"Yup, those are some nasty bruises, especially the one on his face, but you know how easily faces bruise anyway, you guys must have been going at it pretty hard! I wonder how you'd be against Sora though, my manly man, he saved the universe as we know it once you know. And Tidus isn't that shabby either. Yuna is alright, well, she doesn't fight as such, just calls up nasty things to scare you with, I remember one time when Wakka got her angry, and she called up this HUGE beast thing, and it knocked him out, what do you think of that? With sword fighting though, I would like to see you go against Tidus, he needs to be taken down a few notches. Which reminds me; I'd been meaning to give you your sword back, the one we found you with I mean. Here;" She reached down to the other side of her banana lounge, picking the sword off the ground with both hands. Meshuga had been beginning to seethe, almost to the point of violence. But when she saw the sword… the one they assumed was hers…

_It's such a nice, sharp blade,_ a voice crooned in her head. _Wouldn't you like to try it out? Look at her. She's so weak. Doesn't have two brain cells to rub together. Why don't you just do it? Make it look like an accident. Meshuga raised her eyebrows with shock. She had voices in her head now?_

"Meshuga?" Kairi repeated, offering the sword to her companion. Meshuga was staring at the sword. For a moment the world changed, went to what it was like in her last hallucination. Thunder boomed overhead as a creature, obviously long-dead with decaying flesh and torn rags offered her a shaft of light, the one thing that seemed beautiful in this revolting world… Meshuga put her hand out over the handle, about to touch it, but hesitated. For a moment the nice world flashed back; a flicker of blue and yellow, and a figure with purple and white, but it lasted only for a fraction of a second. Still Mehsuga hesitated.

_…No? Then I shall do it for you!_ Shrilled the voice. Meshuga's hand tightened around the handle without her bidding, and her arm bent, hefting the blade expertly. Meshuga watched through half-lidded eyes as her arm, working of its own accord, cut down the gruesome creature. She half-smiled. Now she had put it out of its misery. She closed her eyes momentarily, and when she opened them again the real world was back.

Only now, it was considerably redder than when she had left.

Meshuga's eyes widened, and she dropped the sword as if it had stung her. She took a shuddering breath, backing away. Her eyes were locked on the scene before her. Then she screamed.

Riku heard it from the other side of the island, where he was helping Sora fix some wooden poles that he and Tidus had ruined in one of their sparring matches. The other two boys, to their great annoyance, were playing a mad game of tag. He jumped to his feet, dropping his work.

"MESHUGA!" Was his frantic cry as he sprinted across the sand, headed for where Kairi and Meshuga were. The others followed, though none quite as fast as Riku, his fears snapping at his heels, driving him onward. The scene that met his eyes drove the breath out of his lungs.

Meshuga was standing about three metres from the banana lounges. Splashes of bright red garlanded her face and chest with ruby droplets. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in a silent cry. Riku's gaze followed her line of sight. The banana lounges were broken and splintered, cleaved by some huge force. On them lay the broken and splintered remnants of Kairi, her face and staring eyes a mask of horror. Next to her lay the blade they had found Meshuga with, unmistakeably coated with blood. Sora gave a strangled cry and ran to Kairi, where he dropped to his knees beside her.

"Kairi… no…" he was heard to whisper before he draped himself over her cooling body and cried. With his tears, so came Meshuga's. They rolled silently down her cheeks, making the blood on her face run.

"I…I don't know what it was- I tried to stop it-him- I tried, but… I…" She failed to say any more, as she was sobbing far too hard. Riku embraced her, stroking her hair gently as she cried on his shoulder.

"It's ok Meshuga… it's not your fault…" he whispered, trying to comfort her. Meshuga pushed him back off her, staring him incredulously in the eyes. Then she looked away and before he could do anything, she ran. Riku was about to follow her, one hand already outstretched, but a hand clamped down on his arm. He turned around to see Tidus, his face grave.

"Don't." He advised, steering Riku over to Sora. Wakka, Selphie and Yuna already stood behind him, eyes downcast. "You see this?" Tidus started, forcing Riku to look at Kairi's remains. "Your Meshuga did this. Now, we have to think of what to do about her."

"But it wasn't Meshuga!" Riku protested, earning a stare from everyone except Sora and, of course, Kairi. "Look, we don't have any solid proof that it was actually her that did it."

"What, and the blood and being here isn't?" replied Wakka, a sneer in his voice.

"She might just have witnessed it. She was talking about trying to stop someone, but she said she couldn't."

"Well then, where's the murderer? Do you see him anywhere?"

"Isn't it obvious that he would have run away?" Tidus released Riku's arm with a hint of distaste.

"Fine. Go talk to her. Innocent until proven guilty, I suppose. But someone's guarding her tonight. Not you, because you'd let her go… lover-boy." The title was spat like a drop of poison. "Wakka." The red-haired boy in question paled, backing up a step.

"No friggin' way! She'll kill me! And there won't be anyone there to stop it!"

"We'll take her sword away." Tidus declared. "And you can take Yuna with you." He knew the offer of the presence of Wakka's favourite female would convince him to do this duty, at least for one night.

"Ok, ok, but only for one night." He said, scuffing the ground with his foot. Everyone nodded, and Riku went off to find Meshuga.

He was unable to get anything out of her for the rest of the day, and finally night fell and Meshuga went to bed. When she fell asleep, Wakka and Yuna took their places silently, sitting as far as Tidus would allow them away from the bed. The night wore on, and nothing happened. Wakka sighed. Thank the powers that be.


	7. Chapter 7

It is not a nice thing to be awakened by, on any accounts. To those nearby, a wet tearing noise and a splatter was audible, but to anyone in the actual story, only the scream could be heard. Tidus and Riku rolled out of bed, having spent the night tensely awake or barely asleep. They dashed to Meshuga's housings. Inside was a horrific scene; both Wakka and Yuna were dead, and to Riku's trained eye, it was obvious that one powerful swipe had killed them both. On the floor in the rapidly widening pool of blood lay Meshuga's sword, crusted with Kairi's blood and more recently slicked with Wakka and Yuna's. The window was open, and the curtains were blowing in the wind.

"She's gone." Riku whispered, staring out the window.

"How the hell did she get her sword back?" wondered Tidus, picking it up. He tossed it to Riku, who caught the handle expertly.

"What are you doing? Why are you giving this to me?" Tidus turned his back on Riku's questions, alighting on the windowsill. His hand unsheathed the sword he had worn for just such an occasion.

"I'm gonna get that bitch." He snarled, and left. Riku's eyes widened considerably as he followed, running to catch up with Tidus.

They found Meshuga kneeling on the beach a fair way from the murders. She was frantically trying to clean her hands of the blood sticking to them. She looked up as Tidus and Riku approached.

"It came back. I can't stop it! It overpowers me every time it turns up, and I can't stop it--" she noticed the look in Tidus' eye, and the sword nestled in his hand. Meshuga jumped to her feet. "What's that for?" she hazarded, her voice trembling. Tidus sneered.

"Guess."

"Please, Tidus. Please- don't push me, or he'll come back! I can't stop him, I told you I can't stop him, please! Don't do anything that might get you killed!" Tidus curled his lip, radiating disgust for the girl that stood before him. She backed up, slowly and not making any sudden movements. But then he lunged, and the dark corner of Meshuga's brain was triggered. She jumped aside, her face resolute and cold. Her right hand opened, and her sword appeared there. Riku stared at his now empty palms.

"So that's how she did it." He murmured, momentarily forgetting what was going on. The clang of metal on metal reminded him.

Tidus had blocked the first hit, barely managing to keep the massive blade from cleaving him in two. Meshuga's teeth were bared, and she held an altogether different air now than when she had before. Two more clashes ensued, but on the third she knocked Tidus' sword from his hands, landing it in the surf quite some distance away. Without a shred of remorse, Meshuga swung again. The sword dropped with a terrible momentum, slicing Tidus from one shoulder to the opposite hip. The two pieces fell to the sand, turning it quickly a deep burgundy shade. Riku backed up, eyes wide with horror as Meshuga slowly turned around to face him.

"Please, Meshuga- I don't want to hurt you, I only want to help you--" He tripped and fell, landing on his backside and staring up at her fearfully. She stonily approached, raising her blade for the final swing. Riku squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the end. 

But it didn't come. And it didn't come. And still it didn't come.

 He tentatively opened one eye to see the mighty blade less than a foot away from his head, quivering slightly as Meshuga fought the beast inside her head. Riku scrambled out of the way, getting to his feet once he was out of her range. Meshuga turned, facing him with a terrible glare. She was just about to rush forward, about to kill him- and somehow he knew that this time there would be no saving miracle.

A swish of black and a loud swooping noise marked a new development; a dark figure appeared, and snatched the blade out of Meshuga's hands, somehow making it dematerialise until nothing remained. Then came a mighty bear like thump to the head, and Mehsuga crumpled to the floor, well and truly out cold. Riku's saviour turned around, to inspect just who he had saved.

The rescuer was in fact a tall, handsome man, clothed in a dusty black coat and black jeans and t-shirt. His huge hands were deep in the pockets of said coat.

"Sorry about that," he said, his voice pleasing and full of good humour.

"That's fine. Uh- if you don't mind me asking, who are you? How do you know Meshuga?" The man, who had turned and hefted Meshuga onto his shoulder, now turned to face Riku.

"Meshuga, eh?" he repeated with a wry smile. "That's a good one. I'll have to remember that." Riku cleared his throat expectantly, and the man nodded slightly.

"Some say I'm a Ghost. Some think I'm a God. Some say Man, some say Guru. I am not of the same realm as you, but… well, let's just say I'm a sentinel. 'Meshuga' wasn't supposed to leave where she came from, so I came to get her."

"You were a bit late." Riku said sadly, gazing over at Tidus' body. The man followed his gaze, a remorseful look on his face.

"Ah. Yes, I see." The man took his right hand, the one that wasn't supporting Mehsuga, out of his pocket. Riku was surprised to see that the hand in question was a bright, blood red. The man clicked his fingers, and a glowing mist surrounded Tidus. When it cleared, the boy was whole again. He sat up, glancing around in a rather bewildered fashion.

"There," the man said, turning to take in a full three hundred and sixty view of the surrounding terrain. "That should do it. Terribly sorry. Well, I should be going. I promise this won't happen again." He held that red hand out to Riku, who shook it uncertainly.

"So… I'll never see her again?" he asked, as the man began to walk away. The man sighed.

"Ah, so it's like that, is it? Then _forget" he intoned, his voice taking on a deep resonance. Riku crumpled to the floor, in what seemed to be an immediate unconsciousness. Tidus did the same, and one could only assume that everyone else who had met Meshuga did, too._

"Honestly. I'm getting too old for this," he muttered as the air rippled around him and he was gone.

A good ten minutes later, everyone woke up.

"Why the hell am I out here?" Riku wondered, levering himself up off the sand. He remembered nothing of a white-blonde haired girl, with laughing blue eyes and a dark secret. He remembered nothing of his previous terror. He remembered nothing of a mysterious stranger with a red right hand. He gazed up at the sky, a clear, majestic blue.

"Hey! Riku!" came Sora's voice, floating on the breeze. "Come and see what I've found!"

The scene faded out, leaving the few readers who had perservered thoroughly annoyed. What happened next?! Nobody knew, least of all the author. She smiled vaguely to herself, considering going to play some Doom.


End file.
